Dawn of Eve, MJ Howson [lightweight ebook reader TXT] 📗

through the folds in the dark red satin dress. Black soot covered the stuffed red chimpanzee sitting beside the doll. She sighed and said, “I already tried you, Annabelle.” Janet rubbed her eyes and frowned. “Who would Eve want most?”

Janet ignored the doll above Anna. Similar to Hugo in size and shape, this doll had narrow eyes. Charles’s feathered pillow sat beside the blue-dressed doll. Instead, Janet went to the next shelf. She smiled and said, “Hello, Billy.”

The Billy doll looked oddly handsome with mature facial features. The hazel eyes sparkled, and its tawny complexion appeared rich in the cabinet’s shadows. As with the other boy dolls, Billy’s pants and shirt matched. The deep green color of the clothing was a near-perfect match to the robe the real Billy once wore at camp.

Janet removed Billy from the armoire, taking care not to disturb the nearby piggy bank. She ran her fingers through the doll’s silk-like black hair and then took the locket hanging around its neck into the palm of her hand. Janet used her thumb to polish the necklace, admiring the G engraved across the front. She smiled and kissed Billy’s forehead. When Janet tucked the doll beneath her arm, the eyes snapped closed.

Janet carried Billy past the packed gray metal shelves, through the swinging doors, and into the front of the store. She opened the glass case and placed the knife back where it used to be with the other weapons. The far corner of the glass countertop, where Eve once sat, was still vacant. Janet placed Billy on the counter and grabbed a cloth. She polished the end of the case and then spent some time cleaning the doll, removing bits of dust and debris from the clothing and face. Janet did her best to fix Billy’s hair before tucking the locket away.

Billy sat there, facing Janet, its eyes still closed. She carefully aimed Billy toward the door. Janet kissed the doll’s cheek and whispered, “Choose wisely, Billy. My daughter’s waiting for you.”

Janet smiled, turned, and went into the storage room. She glanced over the swinging doors and gave the doll one last look before turning off the lights.

Billy’s eyes clicked open.

Epilogue

New York Journal – June 29th, 2020

LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER?

Dawn Easton was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the deaths of Jacob Jilani and Dr. Winston Cole. The gruesome murders were committed on December 21, 2019.

Miss Easton, heir to the Evelyn Easton fashion empire, admitted to the stabbing deaths of both victims. Her attorney, Gerald Johnson, claimed she suffered from a psychotic break with reality. Florence Cole, Winston’s wife, provided critical documentation from Dawn’s therapy sessions with her husband. Mrs. Cole, now living in Florida, survived Dawn’s assault the night her husband was murdered. She was also a key witness during the trial. Additional psychiatric analysis confirmed Dawn’s mental diagnosis.

Joe Jordan, a security guard who worked the area, gave one of the most critical testimonies during the trial. Joe had spoken with Miss Easton before and after the murder of Jacob Jilani. It was Joe who noticed the blood on Dawn’s jacket and apprehended her until the police arrived. Joe was quoted as saying, “When I asked her why she did it, she just kept saying that bad men had to be punished.”

The Evelyn Easton Inc. fashion company will not be affected by the outcome. Dawn never played a role in its operation. Oddly enough, her artwork, long bemoaned by critics, has suddenly become highly sought after. Her final collection, dubbed “The Birth,” is on display at Possedimenti Gallery in Hudson Yards.

Dawn will be moved to the Beaumont Psychiatric Center in Rye, New York. Her mother, Evelyn, resides at the same hospital for murdering her husband Stephen Easton in 2001.

When the trial ended, reporters asked Dawn if she was looking forward to seeing her mother again. She said, “My mother? No. I need to find Billy. And the others. They all must be set free.”

Acknowledgements

My first solo novel since writing The Tallow Series took much longer to complete than planned. My story ideas always start with a simple concept and then morph into a completely different novel. A few years ago, I watched a few scary doll movies and wondered why some made me roll my eyes, and others creeped me out. I concluded that the ones that rattled me the most were the ones that made you wonder if the doll was truly possessed. So, I started my research.

The single-page outline for what would become Dawn of Eve went through many iterations. I knew I wanted a unique story that also paid homage to those classic scary doll tales. A sharp-eyed reader will note that the other six children at Camp Ascension are named after famous dolls from television and film. A number of these “Easter Eggs” are scattered throughout the novel, not to mention more than one link to The Tallow Series. Yes, dear reader,  Dawn of Eve  and many other future stories will all be part of a shared universe. Does that mean that characters from one book series end up in another? Stay tuned!

My first big thank you goes to my two advanced readers Glen and Deb. They reviewed the first complete draft of Dawn of Eve and gave me detailed feedback on what worked and what didn’t. Their valuable insight helped me make those necessary tweaks to smooth out the story’s pace, adjust some character traits, and better connect the interwoven plot threads.

I also need to acknowledge my friend Michael. As a licensed clinical psychologist, his insight into mental health helped me design several key aspects of the story. Examples include how Dawn and Dr. Cole interacted and how Dawn heard Eve speak. I told him that I wanted the story to read in one of three ways. A reader could determine that the doll was possessed. A reader could also decide that Dawn was mentally ill, and it was all in her head. Lastly, an argument could be